Tara Heiss an American women’s basketball player who played as a point guard has died. Heiss was born on December 2, 1956, and died on Saturday, July 8, 2023, at the age of 66. A cause of death was not immediately stated.
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Heiss played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins from 1975 to 1978 and led them to their first ACC championship and the 1978 AIAW Final Four.
She was named Most Valuable Player of the ACC Tournament (1978) after she set the program record for assists with 504 and scored 1,350 career points. She was also the first Terrapin to score 1,000 career points.
Owing to her tremendous performances, the University of Maryland retired her No. 44 jersey, which now hangs in the rafters of XFINITY Center.
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She went on to play for USA Basketball in 1979 and 1980 and was named to the 1980 US Olympic Team. She also played on USA teams that competed in the R. William Jones Cup, World Championship, Pan American Games, and World University Games in 1979, garnering three gold medals and one silver medal.
Heiss played for the Allentown Crestettes in the Amateur Athletic Union and the New Jersey Gems in the short-lived Women’s Professional Basketball League.
Following her playing career, she was an assistant coach at Maryland and Towson University and worked for twenty years for FedEx.
She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003, the University of Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.
She is regarded by many as the best point guard in the history of US Women’s basketball.
There is no information on her husband and children so it is unclear if she was married or had children.
Source: abtc.ng
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